U.S Refuses To Release Abacha Loot Because It’s In Dollars- Malami

Abubakar Malami has spoken on the loots traced to Sani Abacha, the late military ruler

Malami said the government of a foreign nation laid claim to some of the stolen money – He, however, noted that the government said the money was not kept in their bank Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the federation and minister of justice explained how the government of a foreign nation laid claim to hundreds of millions of dollar looted by the government of the late military ruler, Sani Abacha.

The Nation reports that Malami said the foreign government told the court that it had an interest in the loot because it was saved in its currency, the US dollar. He made this known on Wednesday, November 15, in Lagos while participating in a seminar organized by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

The seminar with the theme: ”Promoting Transparency and Accountability in the Recovery of Stolen Assets in Nigeria: Proposals for Reform”, was in collaboration with Ford Foundation, USA. The AGF, who was represented by Abiodun Aikomo, his senior special assistant on white collar crimes, also condemned public officials who ferry their loot abroad. Aikomo said: ”We have seen instances where the federal government of Nigeria engaged counsel to recover our stolen assets and the matter went on for many years.

‘On the eve of a judgment on the recovery of Abacha loot, the government of a country filed an application for joinder, this was a matter that was on for seven years and judgment was going to be delivered the next day.

”The government of the country filed, saying ‘Even though the money is not kept in our bank, even though you would think we do not have any connection with the funds, the money is in our currency and we are talking about hundreds of millions in our currency.

So, if you’re moving those funds from our state, then we are interested. “That was how the judgment was more or less arrested. So, the people stealing money and taking it out of Nigeria are doing us a lot of evil, because the moment the money leaves Nigeria it assumes another dimension.

According to NAIJ.com Malami said federal government concluded negotiation with Switzerland on the return of $321Million recovered from the late Abacha’s family. He on Thursday, October 26, said Nigeria had recently recovered the sum of eighty-five million US dollars from the controversial Malabu Restrained Funds from United Kingdom.